ASA California Weekly Roundup: August 25, 2014One more battle to fight in California this year - Oppose SB 1193

August 25, 2014 | Don Duncan

Contents:

Message from the CA Director: One more battle in Sacramento this year

State & Local News: News from communities all over California

Public Meetings & Events: Santa Rosa, Riverside, and Online

Court Support: Submit dates for court support!

Take Action Now: Oppose SB 1193 and more

ASA Website Spotlight: Patient Focused Certification

Chapter & Affiliate Meetings: Submit dates for local meetings!

The 2014 legislative session is almost over. Lawmakers have until August 31 to pass hundreds of bills through the state Assembly and Senate, and Governor Brown has thirty days to sign or veto each. One topic not on the agenda will be SB 1262 (Correa/Ammiano), the bill that would have created statewide regulations for doctors who recommend medical cannabis and for the medical cannabis industry. That bill was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee on August 15, so it will not be adopted this year. Both co-authors are serving their final terms in the legislature according o the state’s term limit rules, so it is back to the drawing board for statewide regulations in 2015.

The Assembly may still vote on a badly amended version of SB 1193 (Evans) – unless we stop them first! SB 1193 was a win-win compromise for law enforcement and patients in California. The old version of the bill, which ASA supported, reduced the amount of cannabis and cannabis plants police and Sheriff’s departments have to keep as evidence, but required law enforcement to pay reasonable compensation if they damaged or destroyed cannabis or plants later found to be legal. Unfortunately, the Assembly Appropriations Committee removed language requiring the return of wrongfully-confiscated property and reasonable compensation at the August 15 hearing.

It is unfair to fundamentally alter SB 1193 so late in the game. ASA supported the bill through three votes in the Assembly and one in the Senate before the beneficial language was removed. We have changed our position to oppose, and are encouraging members and allies to call and email the author and their Assembly representative. We have generated more than 874 emails in opposition to SB 1193 and an unknown number of phone calls so far. There is still time to participate. Look for news about the fate of SB 1193 on FaceBook and Twitter as soon as today.

I apologize for not sending the CA Weekly Roundup last Monday. I was traveling and unable to respond to a technical problem in a timely manner. If you’re reading this, it has been fixed!

California & National News

Regulating California’s medical marijuana industry will likely have to wait another year. A key committee Thursday blocked Senate Bill 1262, the latest legislative attempt to impose a regulatory framework on growers and dispensaries in the first state to allow medical cannabis. Earlier this year, another bill seeking to do so faltered on the Assembly floor.Read more here.

Medical marijuana advocates are calling for the last-minute death of Senate Bill 1193 — which was supposed to be a compromise between patients and police, until police successfully deleted the patients’ part at the last minute. SB 1193 would have reduced the amount of pot that cops confiscate during a dispensary investigation, and also mandated that police give back or compensate collectives for weed deemed unlawfully seized.Read more here.

---California Does Not Have A Medical Marijuana Recommendation Problem (California)David Downs, East Bay Express

California’s law enforcement leaders cannot say often enough that they think medical marijuana is a "con job," that it’s too easy to get a recommendation. They want to create new crimes for doctors who recommend the life-saving plant. But neither law enforcement — nor the San Francisco Chronicle editorial board — is actually talking to the Medical Board of California, which oversees doctors in California.Read more here.

A Costa Mesa ophthalmologist faces state medical board discipline after he dispensed medical marijuana recommendations to undercover investigators whom he allegedly examined for less than three minutes via Skype.Read more here.

Free marijuana is now available in Berkeley. Those who qualify won't have to pay. It's a program that's popular with some and very unpopular with others. The Berkeley City Council voted unanimously on this decision. They say the free cannabis rule was just part of a larger package approved that focuses on safety and distribution of medical marijuana. Linda gets her medical marijuana prescription filled once a week.Read more here.

The Hanford City Council took the first steps Tuesday toward possibly banning the cultivation of marijuana in the city limits. Capt. Parker Sever said local law enforcement is aware of several Hanford residences with more than 100 marijuana plants on site. Sever said the locations have been the source of numerous complaints by neighbors, as well as reports of theft and burglary.Read more here.

Supporters and opponents of Measure F, an initiative to allow medical marijuana dispensaries in Encinitas, recently each turned in an argument that will appear with voter information pamphlets for November’s election. Read more here.

---Fresno Being Sued By ACLU Because Of Marijuana Cultivation Ban (Fresno)Johnny Green, The Weed Blog

The right to grow medical marijuana is something that California medical marijuana patients have relied upon for years. Growing ones own medical marijuana is cheaper than purchasing marijuana from dispensaries, and gives the patient more control over the medicine that they rely on for relief. Plus growing marijuana is fun and rewarding, and if you grow enough, you can help out other patients in need. Taking the right to home cultivation away is damaging to patients.Read more here.

Despite Zen Healing Collective’s primary operator sitting in jail for the foreseeable future having pleaded guilty to 26 felony counts of what can only be called “mobster” activity, as well as potentially facing a revocation of its license because of it that past association, Zen’s staff and clients drew a deep breath (I believe it’s called a toke) of relief Monday night after the West Hollywood Business License Commission decided to follow advise from staff revised to recommend a suspension over the previous recommendation of revocation.Read more here.

The city of Riverside has been wasting limited funds enforcing its ban on medical marijuana dispensaries. Since 2010, the city has spent nearly a million dollars in legal fees combating what could ultimately be a significant money maker for the city. While medical marijuana was approved by California voters in 1996, local governments have the authority to determine whether or not to authorize dispensaries in their respective jurisdictions. Most local governments in the Inland Empire have taken strong stands against dispensaries, citing opposition to the use of marijuana or concerns about clashing with federal law.Read more here.

Just a little over a year ago, then-City Attorney James Penman was vowing to make sure every last marijuana dispensary in San Bernardino was shut down. Penman was hardly alone. In the wake of a California Supreme Court decision in May 2013 allowing the city of Riverside to implement a ban on medical marijuana dispensaries, many cities took action to do the same.Read more here.

There’s a stalemate in the battle over medical-marijuana dispensaries in Pacific Beach, as seemingly one unauthorized cooperative opens or reopens for every one that closes.Read more here.

Public Meetings & Events

Monday, August 25, 2014 - Marijuana Compassion and Common Sense (Online)6:00 PM at www.blogtalkradio.com/marijuananews Tune in for this weekly live Internet broadcast about cannabis and medical cannabis issues. You can call in to participate.

Take Action Now

Last-minute amendments turned a good medical cannabis bill into a bad one, and ASA needs your help today to stop SB 1193. Patients and advocates have supported this bill all year, because it required law enforcement to pay reasonable compensation if they damaged or destroyed lawfully-possessed medical cannabis or plants. But the Assembly Appropriations Committee quietly deleted those provisions last week and sent a bill devoid of patient benefits to the Assembly for a final vote.

A patient in California can be denied a life-saving organ transplant solely based on the fact that he or she uses medical cannabis! Legal patients have died after being removed from the organ transplant list, and others are in jeopardy right now. Americans for Safe Access, the nation's leading medical cannabis patients' advocacy organization, proposes legislation to prevent anyone from being denied a transplant because of medical cannabis. Sign this petition to let lawmakers know you support the Medical Marijuana Organ Transplant Act to provide equal access to health care for legal patients.

ASA is the nation’s leading medical cannabis patients’ advocacy organization. The patients, medical professionals, scientists, concerned citizens, and other who comprise ASA are committed to promoting safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic use and research. ASA works in partnership with state, local and national legislators to overcome barriers and create policies that improve access to cannabis for patients and researchers.

ASA Website Spotlight

How can medical cannabis patients know that the businesses and professionals that serve them adhere to the highest professional standards of legal operation, safety, and customer service? Patient Focused Certification (PFC) is an innovative new program that is calibrating the medical cannabis industry for excellence. Comprehensive and flexible, PFC is what patients, healthcare providers, companies, and regulators can depend on to identify reliable, high-quality medical cannabis products and services.

ASA Chapter & Affiliate Meetings

No listings this week. Send items for the California Weekly Roundup to CARoundup@SafeAccessNow.org before 12:00 PM on Friday to be included in Monday's distribution.

Have something to share?

The “California Weekly Roundup” is a once-a-week email for ASA Members and Friends that focuses on relevant news and important updates, action alerts, meetings and special events. Send items for the California Weekly Roundup to CARoundup@SafeAccessNow.org before 12:00 PM on Friday to be included in Monday's distribution.